Most Expensive Video Game Ever, GTA V Cost $265 Million To Make

Video games, especially AAA flagship titles by huge development teams are expensive, but Grand Theft Auto V has just pushed that benchmark a little further than anyone else by costing a staggering $265 Million to develop, making it the most expensive video game ever made (so far!).

Just to put that into perspective, it is more on par with a huge Hollywood block buster than your average video game, with only movies like the extortionately expensive Pirates of the Caribbean 3 costing more. Not to worry of course, because the GTA series has long since proven its self to be a licence to print money, it’s a sure thing, a safe investment and one that will see an estimated return of $1.57 billion in the first year alone. Suddenly $265 million doesn’t sound like that big an investment given the staggering projected returns.

Grand Theft Auto IV cost Rockstar less than half of what it cost to develop Grand Theft Auto V, but given the insane profits seen by the series its safe to say that this game could flop and they still wouldn’t be running out of money any time soon, especially since shares in Take-Two Interactive (the owners of Rockstar) have nearly doubled in the past year along. Of course it won’t flop and pre-order figures are no doubt through the roof as we see the dawn of one of the finest titles just before we hit the next-generation of console gaming.

Scottish Games Network’s Brian Baglow said “The series has come on not just in leaps and bounds, but in long jumps since then. It’s become far more than the sum of its parts, it’s a fully global phenomenon. This is the fifth major release, and the nice thing is that all of them have been made here in Scotland.”

While many including myself are keen for a PC release, as well as a next-gen release of this game, it is sure to do well on current gen for now. Will you be playing GTA V this year? Or are you holding out for a next-gen / PC release date? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

GTA VI (when it’s released) will probably cost more than double of what GTA V cost to make but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, if GTA V doesn’t get released on PC then IV will have been the last game in the franchise that I played. Although I’m a massive fan of the GTA series I have no intention whatsoever of getting any console just to play it. I’ve got better things to waste my money on.